da kine - Yes, it's too late for The Theo to blame the Duquette administration. Once he threw Manny off the bus, the last real vestige of the Duquette juggernaut was gone.

And besides, The Theo knows the buck stops with him. Unless of course it has a few mid-route stops to make along the way where it will also stop. And also there is the chance that the buck may pass along further to other stake holders if The Theo can't stop the buck. This buck we speak of just ain't worth what it used to be (worth).

Rob, he lives near me (although in a much richer hood than mine) and I've seen him before: once on a motorcycle on St. Charles and once exiting a port-a-let (I was next in line). He just signed on for David Simon's Treme.

But getting back to the Sox and the hopes and expectations for 2010, Here's my take, comparing the changes in the 2010 team to the 2009 one:

Third base -- given that our beloved Mikey would be very unlikely to be an everyday player, Beltre is a definite upgrade defensively and will probably have similar offensive numbers to what a part-time Lowell would have had. Advantage 2010.